


Comfort

by SapphyreLily



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff and Angst, Gen, M/M, just a biiiiit of angst, trampoline park
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-18
Updated: 2016-01-18
Packaged: 2018-05-14 17:22:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5751757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SapphyreLily/pseuds/SapphyreLily
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nijimura meets Akashi again - the first time since he left for America.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Comfort

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated to Skylark. You know who you are, darl. Please don't kill me for messing with your ship.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke.

It had been a long time since Nijimura Shuuzou met Akashi Seijuurou.

Yet somehow, by some coincidence of fate, they ran into each other – at a trampoline park.

Nijimura was surprised, to say the least. The redhead was the last person he would have suspected of liking trampoline parks. But it seemed that he had been proven wrong,  so he took the next best option available – he sucked it up and dealt with it.

Nijimura sauntered over to Akashi, clapping him hard on the shoulder with a loud, “Yo.”

The redhead stiffened under his hand, looking up with cautious surprise. “Nijimura-san. It’s been a long time.”

“No shit, Sherlock. What are you doing here?”

Akashi smiled wryly – man, it had been forever since he saw that smile – and said, “It’s Tokyo. I study here.”

“Oh?” Well, that was news. “I thought you would have been someplace fancier – Kyoto or something.”

Akashi shrugged lightly. “I like the curriculum of the university I’m currently at. What is Nijimura-san doing here?”

“I can come back to my hometown any time I want, brat.” Nijimura ruffled his hair affectionately. “I don’t live in America permanently, you know.”

“I see.” There it was again – that tiny smile. How was it possible to miss a smile, really?

Nijimura shook the thought off and sidestepped Akashi, placing a foot on the springy trampoline. “You come here often?”

“No, it’s my first time.” Akashi stepped onto the trampoline as well, their combined weight making the material dip. “What about Nijimura-san?”

“I’ve been here a few times. There’s something about this place that keeps you coming back.” Nijimura leapt onto the next trampoline, the force sending him bouncing into the air. He laughed involuntarily – the feeling of weightlessness never got old.

There was a jolt as Akashi jumped on the same trampoline as him, his momentum making him fly forward onto the next mat. He landed on his belly, limbs akimbo. It was so unlike the redhead that Nijimura started laughing.

Akashi sat up and glared at him, rising slowly to his feet. “Please stop laughing, Nijimura-san.”

“Sorry, sorry.” Nijimura wiped tears from his eyes. He folded his arms and tried – and failed – not to smirk. “Akashi Seijuurou doesn’t know how to play at a trampoline park. What a refreshing idea.”

Akashi scowled. “I do not play very often, Nijimura-san. Of course the concept would be foreign to me.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Nijimura waved his excuses away as he hopped from one mat to the other, relishing the buoyancy that the trampolines lent him. He could feel Akashi staring after him and turned back with a slight smirk, daring him to follow.

Of course competitive, never-lose Akashi would take the bait. Just not when he had a chance of failing.

Nijimura hopped on top of a pyramid and watched his junior flounder around as he tried to grow a new sense of balance. To his credit, Akashi seemed to pick it up pretty easily, balancing his weight on the balls of his feet when he landed. Nijimura watched the redhead hop from mat to mat with varying amounts of force, testing his boundaries and the sensation of weightlessness.

If Nijimura had never seen Akashi smile before, he would have thought that this was the most enjoyable activity the redhead had engaged in in a long time.

_Maybe it is. You’ll never know with this one._

Before long, Akashi was trying to scale the pyramids as well. It was unfortunate that he couldn’t seem to get it on his first few tries, always falling short by a small margin and hitting the side of the pyramid instead of hopping atop it. Instead of giving up, Akashi joined the queue of little kids on the walkway, starting with a running jump to push himself higher. He seemed to get closer and closer to his goal each time, but after several tries, he still couldn’t jump high enough.

Nijimura almost wanted to go over and teach him, but he knew the redhead would not appreciate that, so he didn’t. He took to bouncing around the trampoline park instead, smiling unrestrainedly at the rush of adrenaline. Within minutes he had forgotten that Akashi was there, completely immersed in the exhilaration of kicking off the walls to perform elaborate tricks and flips.

Nijimura was bouncing on the spot, trying to see how high he could jump when he felt the change in the tension under his feet. Looking over, he realised that Akashi had re-joined him, his face flushed with effort.

The raven-haired boy made an effort to slow his momentum so they could speak. “So, how do you like this place?”

Akashi didn’t reply him for a few seconds. “It is surprisingly fun.”

“Isn’t it?” Nijimura grinned, flashing his teeth. “It’s a great place to work out your frustrations. Gives a better adrenaline rush than fighting.”

If Akashi nodded, he couldn’t tell. The bouncing distorted such actions. Feeling a little restless, Nijimura leaped to the next mat, and the one after that, travelling until he could bound up the side of a pyramid again.

He had just sat down when a red blur and a panicked cry of ‘Nijimura-san!’ came flying at him, knocking him clean off his perch and onto the mat below. For a moment, pain bloomed in his back where he had smacked into the mat, but he was more concerned about the thing – person – that had smacked into him. Nijimura wrapped his arms around the smaller body, holding it close as the trampoline continued tossing them up in the air.

When they had finally stopped bouncing, Nijimura let his head drop down on the mat, his arms loosening around Akashi’s torso in relief. “So, brat, do you want to explain yourself?”

“I didn’t think I would actually make it to the top,” Akashi mumbled. “I was only joking.”

“Uh-huh.” Nijimura tilted his head downwards to look at the redhead. “There are safety rules in this place for a reason. You could have killed us.”

Akashi let his head drop, burying his face in Nijimura's shirt. “Sorry.”

Nijimura stared. Did the redhead just say what he thought he said? Never mind, he would be cautious in case he had misheard. “Just be more careful.”

He tightened his grip on Akashi and sat up, ensuring the redhead was steady before releasing him. Strangely enough, the younger's face was faintly red, his head drooping as if in shame. That couldn’t be right. Akashi Seijuurou was shameless.

“Oi, Akashi. I said it was fine, didn’t I? Come on, get up.” Nijimura spoke gruffly, unsure of how to deal with this Akashi who apparently could feel mortification.

“I am very sorry, Nijimura-san. I could have endangered your life.” Akashi’s voice was small, his shoulders hunched into a submissive posture.

Now Nijimura was just stunned. _Seriously, what’s wrong with him?_

“Akashi, I really did mean it’s fine. We’re okay, aren’t we? Oi, brat.” Nijimura stuck two fingers under Akashi’s chin and lifted his head. He was shocked to find that the redhead’s eyes were swelling with tears. “Akashi?”

Akashi brushed his hand away, scrubbing at his eyes. “I'm fine.”

“You’re obviously not. Stop lying to me.” Nijimura grabbed Akashi’s wrist and pulled, wrapping the redhead in a crushing hug. A few seconds later, arms curled around his back, fingers fisting in the material of his shirt. The tiniest hint of warmth on his shoulder made him suspect that there were tears involved, and that made him panic.

Nijimura brought a hand up to cradle Akashi’s head, stroking the soft strands in what he hoped was a soothing manner. “Shh. It’s all right. It’s all right.”

To his great relief, there was no keening wail that he had associated with crying. His shoulder did feel damper, but what were a few tears compared to a full-out breakdown?

_Why are there tears in the first place?!_

Nijimura had no idea how long had passed before the redhead stopped trembling in his arms, but whatever it was, he was grateful the waterworks had ceased. He patted Akashi’s head one last time, and in a fit of compassion, pressed a kiss to the soft strands.

He let the redhead scramble out of his arms and wipe his eyes, waiting a few moments before springing the question. “What happened?”

Akashi kept his gaze on the mats, his voice small. “Can we not talk about it?”

Nijimura only rolled his eyes. “Yes, and if something like this happens again we’ll just go through the whole routine another time. _No._ ” He emphasised. “Tell me now.”

Akashi sighed and turned his face upwards. “I was scared I killed you.”

“I got that much. Carry on.”

“I nearly killed Kuroko before.”

“Uh-huh– _What!?_ ”

“It was an accident.” Akashi mumbled, his face turned to the floor again. “We were ice skating and I crashed into him because of some melted ice. There was so much _blood_.” Akashi buried his face in his hands. “Seirin told me never to go near him again.”

Nijimura gaped. Who exactly was this boy, and what had he done with strong, unflappable Akashi? Without a second thought, his hand shot out and slapped the side of the redhead’s skull, leaving him reeling.

“Are you kidding me? Is that the reason why you were scared of hurting someone else?”

“It’s a legit reason,” came the muttered answer.

Nijimura wanted to facepalm. “How hurt was Kuroko after this incident?”

“I don’t know. No one would tell me.”

“Oh my god, for someone so smart, you are so daft sometimes.” Nijimura did facepalm this time. “Seirin may have been right to keep you away for a while, but seriously, have you never seen him around?”

“No?”

“You must be living in a bubble. Kuroko Tetsuya is outside, manning that counter.” Akashi’s head shot up, eyes searching frantically as he tried to catch a glimpse of blue hair. Nijimura pushed him down, flicking his forehead so he would stop.

“Stop. For goodness sake, why can’t you just be happy with the fact that he’s fine?”

“Because I never apologised to him properly.”

“Oh my–“ Nijimura cut himself short and grabbed the redhead by the arm, dragging him to the side of the arena. “Oi, Kuroko. Get your ass over here.”

“You called, Nijimura-senpai? Ah, Akashi-kun.” Kuroko greeted them with a slight smile. “How can I assist you?”

“Tell this brat here that you’re fine and let’s move on. He’s being so fussy.”

“Is that so?” Kuroko turned to Akashi. “Is this about what I think it’s about?”

“I– I’m sorry. For nearly killing you that time.” Akashi couldn’t even look the blunette in the eye.

Kuroko rolled his eyes so hard, Nijimura was half-afraid they were going to fall out of his head. “Akashi-kun, we’ve been over this a million times. I wasn’t that injured. Kagami-kun and the rest of Seirin simply overreacted.”

“Wait. Hold up.” Nijimura interrupted. “If you’ve been over this a million times, then why does he insist he hasn’t seen you since that incident?”

“He hasn’t.” Kuroko stated simply. “He sent me about a million letters, emails, cards and voice messages though. As if one time was not enough to convey the message. Kagami-kun makes sure we never meet, and circumstances have kept us apart until today. Quite the coincidence, don’t you think?”

“Indeed.” Nijimura eyed Akashi with exasperation. “Okay, thanks Kuroko. I’m going to beat this fellow up now.”

“Please take it outside if you must, Nijimura-senpai. There are kids in here, and blood does not wash off all that easily.”

“Oh, I won’t break the skin.” Nijimura called cheerfully as he led the redhead off. “Maybe some bruising is all.”

Once they were back on the trampolines, Nijimura smacked the back of Akashi’s head. “Are you done with your pity party? Kuroko’s fine. I’m fine. Stop acting like the world has ended.”

Akashi rubbed the back of his head with a sour look. “Yes. Though I hardly want a murder on my record.”

Nijimura snorted. “I'm certain you would be able to get away with it. Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to continue enjoying myself.”

Nijimura bounced away, and the twanging of the trampolines behind him after a few seconds told him that Akashi was doing the same.

As he continued jumping from mat to mat, Nijimura began to contemplate how odd Akashi’s reaction was. He thought he was overreacting at first, but now that he thought about it, it was curiously touching.

_He cares enough about his friends that he would not see them injured. Perhaps there is some past hurt that caused him to act this way._

_Maybe I should apologise._

Nijimura stopped short and looked around for that blur of red, but somehow, Akashi had disappeared. The raven-haired boy had just turned one full circle when someone came crashing into his back, sending him sprawling.

Nijimura was certain he knew who it was.

The person peeled off his back and tapped his shoulder, asking in a worried voice, “Nijimura-san? Are you alright?”

Nijimura groaned and flipped over, rubbing his nose as he sat up. “Never better. You seriously need to watch where you’re going.”

“Sorry.” Akashi sat next to him. “For that and for being an idiot.”

“Huh?” Nijimura looked at him in slight surprise. “No, don’t apologise. I should be the one apologising. I think I understand why you freaked out.”

“You do?”

“Maybe.” Nijimura shrugged. “You care a lot for your friends and don’t want them to be hurt. You actually a real softie.”

Akashi folded his arms in a huff. “Speak for yourself, Nijimura-san. You were very caring during my...episode, earlier.”

Nijimura gave him a small smirk. “It's my job as a senior to look out for you.”

“If you want to play that game, fine.” Akashi stood and made to move away, only to fall flat on his face as Nijimura caught his leg.

“Seriously, Akashi. Live a little. Take a joke as a joke and stop reading so deeply into it.”

Akashi wanted to retort with something witty but caught himself in time. _Nijimura-san’s trying to be nice. I should appreciate it._

“I’ll try.”

“Good.” Nijimura smiled briefly.

“Okay kid, we've got some time left before our session ends. Race you.” In a flash, Nijimura was on his feet and bounding away across the trampolines, the stunned redhead hot on his heels after a delayed response.

From his place at the receptionist's counter, Kuroko smiled.

It was nice to see his former captains reunited after so many years.


End file.
